Coffee Dazzles

After our discussion last Tuesday night about using some things from our stash and seeing Mona's fall cards, I really want to start exploring all the Dazzles I have.  Here's a card a made a few weeks ago.  Sent it to a friend I haven't seen in a long time with a plee for gettiing together for a cup of coffee and some talk time.  Kind of cute, although I really wish I had a stamp or rub ons that just said "Hi".  Had to improvise and use an alphabet stamp set.  I could have done it on the computer had a been thinking ahead  but I already had the card put together before I realized I didn't have a sentiment that would work.  Then stamped "How Ya' Bean?" on the inside with the same stamps.  Can't believe in all the stuff I've accumulated over the years that I'm missing something as basic as "Hi"!  Well I guess I'll just have to do something about that on my next visit to Memory Lane, JoAnne's or Michaels :-)

Seeds of Friendship

Good Morning Gals,
Just wanted to show you the card I was trying to copy the other night.  Isn't it pretty - ric rac and all!  It was from the Clean and Simple Challege Gallery.
Have a nice day.
-J-

It was a success!!!

Last night was the "Big Reveal". . .the "Show & Tell" for the cards we made for the 1st ever Gal Pal Sketch Challenge.  I was just blown away by the cards.  And seeing them all lined up together was great fun.  Hopefully you won't mind if I steal a few of the designs. 

Click Here to see the post with the original sketch and details of the challenge.

Here's all the cards that came from that sketch. What fun!!!

Here's Mona's  cards:

Here's Val's cards:

 And those by yours truly:

Thanks my Gal Pals for playing along.  Here's the next sketch.  Let's pull out our eyelets and brads and see what we can come up with.  Next Show & Tell will be October 19th.  Hope that sounds OK.

Edit/Update:  Sketch came from THIS cool web site

A "Natural" Embellishment

This is a card I made this weekend to send to my family along with our weekly newsletter.  When Allan and I were out hiking in the hills behind the house we passed a nine bark bush that had some really pretty color leaves.  I was hoping I could capture and preserve the beauty of their color by pressing them and covering them with Crystal Effects.  But they lost a lot of the color as they dried and even though the Crystal Effects gave them a nice shiney look and made them safe for using as an embellishment I wish the color was till as vivid as when we picked them.  I did make a 2nd attempt and picked a fresh leaf and put the Crystal Effects on it right away (rather than pressing it first).  The color was better but the leaf wasn't as flat.  Not sure it would make it in the mail.  Maybe I should mail it to myself and see :-)

Looking forward to the Big Reveal Tuesday night.

This was my mom's birthday card this April. It was a cute pattern I found on SplitCoast and just had to try it out. Except for figuring out the size of the flowers and leaves which I cut on my Cricut, it was really easy to put together. I'm thinking it might be cute for a Christmas and Winter card. You could use presents or pointsettias for the Christmas topper and maybe snowflakes for the Winter topper. Geez - even a Halloween or Fall theme with pumkins and apples for the toppers. I'll get right on that! :-)

Also wanted to let you know I made 3 more cards for our sketch challenge. One is not so good - had to do a "creative deviation" to try to save it. But the other 2 aren't bad. Val - the heat is on!

Uh Oh! I'm in Trouble!!!

During my morning web surfing I stumbled across these stamps:
Just Rite Stamps for Christmas


Have been thinking about Christmas cards in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now.  Forever thinking I'll get an early start and not be so whacked out when the holidays arrive.  Also want some ideas that are flat for mailing since I send so many cards out to family and friends.  I know we don't need one more order to try to fit into our budgets but I think I'm just going to have to break down and do it.  Will justify it by noting that a box of really pretty Christmas cards with the quantity I need would about $25.  So doesn't that all even out? :-)  [Mom - if you're reading this. . .Did I do that rationalization OK?  You taught me well!!! ]

Happy surfing!

"Hi"

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day.  Mine was nice and relaxing.  Got to spend a little time in the craft room on Saturday.  I've started sending weekly notes to my parents, Allan's parents and my Aunt Hazel.  Allan's father had a stroke a year or so ago and it's been hard on him to lose some of his mobility.  He says sometimes to Allan when asked how he is. . ."I'm still sitting here doing nothing".  Kind of sad.  And although my Aunt Hazel is pretty active, she's been so lonely since Uncle Bob died last year.  So we thought maybe a piece of  mail (other than a bill) might be a nice treat.  It's a great reason to make quick clean and simple cards like this one.  I just love this punch.  Not sure if you can tell from the picture but it punches and embosses.  One piece of patterned paper, a little ribbon and a scallop to highlight the punch was all it took to throw this one together. 

I also was able to get a card made for our 1st Gal Pal Sketch challenge.  Can't post it though until next week's Big Reveal.  Since Mona and Val voted last week to extend our deadline to next Tuesday, hopefully I'll get a couple more made between now and then.  Lots of ideas swimming in my head but just haven't spent the time putting them together.  How 'bout you girls? - any progress yet? :-)

Last but Certainly not Least

Had a chance Tuesday night to get pictures of Mona's alcohol ink cards from the class we took a couple of weeks ago.  Her "smoosh" sample was over-the-top gorgeous.  In fact she used our time at Memory Lane to work on a card design.  Can't wait until next week to see what she ended up with.  We all agreed that it was too pretty to give away.  So maybe we'll see it on her desk sometime in the future with a beautiful inspirational quote - although it's inspirational all on its own. 

Hope everyone has a good 3 day weekend and gets some wonderful craft time squeezed in!

A Stitch In Time

Can you guess which one of  the 3 gal pals is the seamstress of the group?  It's certainly not me!  Even though my mother and great aunt Bertha could both make some wonderful things on a sewing machine, I guess I just never inherited that gene.  Putting thread on a bobbin and trying to sew a straight line is quite a challenge for me.  But I'm so grateful to have a friend like Mona - so gifted in so many ways - but one of the best is her sewing skills.  I've been the lucky recipient of a few cards that have included some stitching.  Isn't this one great?!    

Griz Thank You Notes

Made a set of these Griz thank you notes for some folks at work.  Got the paper at Memory Lane last year.  Wanted more of it because it's so perfect for friends at UM but Debbie said they don't make it anymore.  Darn!  Didn't get much craft time in this weekend - Double Darn! But Allan's leaving tonight (Sunday night) instead of his regular Monday morning flight so maybe I can squeeze in just a couple of hours.  Whoo-Hoo!!! 

Val's Alcohol Ink Samples

Got sidetracked and didn't get the pictures of Val's cards from the Saturday alcohol ink class taken until yesterday and then had to work a little late last night so I didn't get the pictures posted as planned.  But here they are.  I love, love, love how her "smoosh" technicque turned out - especially the one that  is the bright golds and orange.  Wonder how much it would take to bribe her out of that one? !  :-)  The flowers on her "shimmer" technique are fantastic. Loved the colors and the layers of color.  Hope everyone has a good weekend.  When Mona gets back from vacation next week I'll get pictures of hers posted.  P.S.  September 7th - our "show and tell" date for the 1st Gal Pal Sketch challenge is quickly approaching.  I haven't even started!  Have lots of ideas swimming in my head though.

Clean and Simple

Maybe it's because I'm lazy but I've really been drawn to all the clean and simple card designs and blogs lately.  Here's a wedding card I made for my neighbor's daughter Meghanne who recently got married.  Both UM grads by the way!  P.S. Val - I need to keep you alcohol ink cards one more day - didn't get them photographed last night but will definitley do that tonight and get them posted.  Off to work.  See ya' back here tomorrow.

Card Class

We had so much fun!  It's been a long time since all 3 of us learned something totally new - together.  Spent Saturday afternoon at Memory Lane exploring 4 techniques with alcohol inks.  We learned how to do a rust technique, a "crystal" or stained-glass technique, a smoosh technique and a "blow it off" technique.  Here's my samples.  Val and Mona's turned out much better but I didn't have my camera with me so I'll have to post them later.  And of course after having so much fun we had to make a "little" investment in all the stuff we needed to make more cards.  Eeesh!  I'm not sure any of us can afford to learn anything new! :-)

This is the regular pouncing technique on glossy paper.
This is the rust technique - really cool!  The bird is the stained-glass/shimmer technicque which is also on the flowers on the next card.

This is the "blow it off" technique - we used compressed air to blow the ink around until it looked like it was marbleized (sp?).

And finally - and most definitely least - my least favorite card that is - is my version of the smoosh technique.  I kind of ruined it when I tried to add a darker color.  Will definitely have to try this one again.  Wait until you see Mona and Val's samples of this technique - they're great!

Paper Tole

Isn't this birthday card beautiful!  This is my 2010 birthday card from Val.  I tease her all the time when I watch her do her paper tole cards. . . ."Is that one for me? :-) "  They are all so beautiful.  I certainly couldn't do it - don't have the steady hands and really don't have the patience that Val has.  You ought to see the ones from a Victorian Christmas kit she has.  Maybe she'll bring one next Tuesday night so we can get it photographed and up on the site (hint, hint Val ! :-) 

I found this good description of Paper Tole in the web.. . . .Paper tole - an art form that originated sometime in the 18th century, also known as three-dimensional decoupage, is the art of handcrafting three-dimensional pictures from flat prints. Paper tole art is created by skillfully cutting, shaping, and assembling pieces of paper layered onto an image until a three-dimensional version of the image emerges. The photo below shows a little more of the detail and dimension.

Tomorrow's post will hopefully be pics of the cards we're making at our Alcohol Ink class at Memory Lane.  Until then. . . .Happy Friday!

Noah's 1st Birthday

Noah - my grandbaby (Allan's step-daughter's child) - is turning 1 next Monday. Allan will be at his big party this weekend in Wilmington, North Carolina. Natasha, Mom, rented a club house and there are 50 people on the invite list. While I'm really looking forward to my "party for one" weekend, I sure do wish I could be there to see how he handles all the fun. It's been so much fun to watch him grow this year. Natasha and Cameron, Dad, have been great about posting pictures once a month and Allan and Natasha talk every week so all the updates make us feel as close as possible. And we've even Skype'd a time or 2.

Here's the card we (and I really mean we) came up with. Allan's so funny when I'm in my craft room doing something like this - he wants to watch what I'm doing, play with the Cricut and then of course can't resist giving me his input. Most of the time his input is really great and this time was no exception. He basically was responsible for the embellishments in the corner and the placement & pop up of the scalloped circle. Got the paper with matching ribbon and embellisments at Memory Lane. Loved the dinosaurs and the colors are ones that Natasha seemss to dress Noah in. Hope he loves it. And most of all I hope he continues to have a wonderful life full of love and adventure.

What a "Treat"

Our Tuesday night craft night was fun. I know it seemed like we didn't get alot done but we really did!!; my Gal Pals helped me play with some Martha Stewart punches, found paper for the post-it note holders I'm making for my new team, caught up on happenings in our lives (one of the best parts of our time together!), browsed the new Stampin' Up mini catalog (Uh-Oh! That could be trouble :-) ) and shared recent card crafting adventures. Here's a super cute card Mona made with the Stampin' Up treat cups. She's so funny (and clever). . . said she just couldn't fill them with treats somebody couldn't get to so she used small buttons. Kind of like a shaker box card. Isn't it great! And guess what my favorite part is. . . .. . . .. Yep. . . . .RIC-RAC!!!! :-)
Have a great day everyone!

Challenge Crazy!!

After weeks of just sitting on the sidelines and looking at all the submissions to the Splitcoast daily challenges, I finally jumped back in. Did the Try a New Technique challenge AND the Clean and Simple challenge. Here's the links to the challenge so you can read what they are and then I have the cards I made right below.

TLC286:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/try-new-technique-f44/tlc286-~-anything-but-bow-knot-~-08-16-10-a-t502707.html

Holiday Cheer:

CAS80:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/clean-simple-cards-f239/cas80-sketch-stampingout-8-16-10-a-t502710.html

Love:
Will bring the camera to card night and hopefully will have something new to post tomorrow.

See ya' soon.

Gal Pal Sketch #1

Wow! It's been WAY too long since we've had any activity on this blog. I'm gonna' try to change that.

I'll start by posting our current sketch. I've been so enjoying all the challenges on Splitcoaststampers. Spend most of my mornings surfing around while I'm having my cereal and coffee. Can't say I get too many challenges done but it's fun looking.

So I talked Val and Mona into giving it a try. But Val cautioned that we can't be too overly ambitious especially since our jobs can sometimes drain the life out of us. Can you tell she's thee wise one of the 3 of us? :-) So we're starting with this one.


Use any patterned paper and any embossing folder you like - can't wait to see what Val comes up with since she has almost every single Cuttlebug folder :-). I couldn’t find a shape in Word that looked like the scalloped punch but the hope is that we’ll use the scalloped oval or circle with an inner circle that contains the sentiment. Ribbon (maybe ric rac1 - my favorite!) will be along the mid section / embossed section. (Hope you can tell the "hourglass" was a boo-boo when I took the print screen and shouldn't be a part of the sketch)

We decided we would do our show and tell on it the Tuesday after Labor Day. Hope that gives us enough time.
More postings soon!

Card Sketch Challeges

As I surf thru Splitcoaststampers postings each morning, I've always wanted to do some of the challenges. So week before last I jumped right in. It was fun. Really got my creative juices flowing quickly when I had a pattern to start with. Here's the first card for SC275 and it's associated sketch from SCS:



Here's the one for the following week (SC276) and its sketch:



I'm really hoping on the week's where we just don't have the energy to come up with something new on our own, that we might be able to take the latest sketch and just let our creativity flow. Are you up for it?

Spring cards

Hi My Friends,

Posting pics of a few cards I made last night. I got all twirled up looking at inspiration cards and although I should have been putting the 2nd coat of primer on the bathroom cabinets I just couldn't resist some play time in the craft room.


Mona - since I don't have that cute butterfly punch or die cut I improvised and used one of my Cricut cartridges - Home Accents. I thought it turned out pretty good even though I messed up the glitter a little. But I'm anxious for our next play date to see how it looks with the SU punch or die.


Finally got around to finishing the cards for Easter. I love, love, love this paper. I'll have to remember too buy up another 6 sheets on Tuesday. (Val - I'll save some for you for next year when you're done with your New Year's Resolution and allowed to buy paper again! :-) ) Happy Friday - Jewel!
P.S. - Mona, Katie - I checked the Of The Earth stamp set back in if you want to check it out to play. Val - do you still have Berry Christmas checked out? No problem but just want to keep our blog up to date. Thx.